The best gift

A stranger's willingness to give up his kidney has given a local man hope for the future and forged a bond between their families.

Mitch Petty, left, applauds the effort of his son, Blake, 11, during his basketball game at the Evansville Basketball Academy in September. The father of three was scheduled for a kidney transplant in about 84 hours at the Indiana University Health University Hospital in Indianapolis. Petty was tired of being sick (diagnosed with CVID, an immune disorder) and wanted to get off the sidelines and back on the court coaching his kids, Evan, 7, bottom center, and Hannah, 7, bottom right, as well as relieving some of the burden on his wife, Meredith, top center.

Meredith Petty, right, and her husband, Mitch eat at St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis with their guests Charlie and Jennifer Bockelman the evening before Mitch's kidney transplant. Charlie Bockelman was donating a kidney the next morning to the husband of his co-worker, Meredith, after secretly being tested. The two men were strangers.

Charlie Bockelman samples the lobster on Mitch Petty's plate at St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis the night before their kidney transplant in September. "If we can share a kidney, we can share a lobster," Petty said.

A visit to St. Elmo Steak House offered Charlie and Jennifer Bockelman and Mitch and Meredith Petty a chance to share stories of their young children as well as offer thanks before heading back to their hotels for the evening. The two families would become forever linked the next morning when Charlie Bockelman would give Mitch Petty one of his kidneys.

Mitch Petty, left, and Charlie Bockelman arrive a bit too early to get checked-in to Indiana University Health University Hospital in Indianapolis for their kidney transplant in September. By 7:30 am, Bockelman was on his way to the operating room to have a kidney removed in what was about a three-hour procedure.

Charlie Bockelman, husband and father of two young sons, meets the team of operating room personnel who would be removing one of his kidneys at the Indiana University Health University Hospital in Indianapolis for recipient Mitch Petty.

Mitch Petty waves to his kidney donor, Charlie Bockelman, as he leaves for the operating room at Indiana University Health University Hospital early Monday morning. Petty and Bockelman were in facing rooms – divided by a narrow corridor and open pull curtains – as they were prepared for the kidney transplant.

Mitch Petty is overcome as his kidney donor, Charlie Bockelman, heads for the operating room at Indiana University Health University Hospital early Monday morning. Petty and Bockelman were in facing rooms – divided by a narrow corridor and open pull curtains – as they were prepared for the kidney transplant with their wives at their sides.

Mitch Petty can only wait his turn to be transported to the operating room moments after watching his kidney donor, Charlie Bockelman, go ahead of him.

Transplant surgeon John A. Powelson, second left, separates connective tissue to free the kidney of Charlie Bockelman for transplant into the recipient, Mitch Petty, during a Sept. 9, 2013, operation. Removing the kidney took about three hours.

Mitch Petty is readied for his surgery at the Indiana University Health University Hospital. Petty would have a new kidney courtesy of donor Charlie Bockelman in about two hours. Bockelman was in the next operating room over separated by a swinging door.

Jennifer Bockelman, left, and Meredith Petty keep family and friends updated on their husbands' kidney transplant operations by texting from the waiting room of Indiana University Health University Hospital Monday morning.

Mitch Petty is greeted in his garage by his 7-year-old twins Hannah and Evan five days after receiving a new kidney.

Three months and two days after undergoing a kidney transplant, Mitch Petty's life is getting back to normal as he and his son, Blake, 11, tease Hannah, 7, about her upcoming first basketball game of the season.

The Petty Family gets together for a Christmas celebration at the Bockelman Family's home in Newburgh, Ind., on a recent Sunday afternoon. The bond between the families was created by the gift of one of Charlie Bockelman's kidneys to Mitch Petty in September of this year.

A game of "spoons" is one of the catalysts creating a bond between the two families of Mitch Petty, top left, and Charlie Bockelman, top right, on a recent Sunday afternoon. With two sons of his own, Bockelman of Newburgh, Ind., knew right away he would donate one of his kidneys to Petty of Evansville if the opportunity arose. Although strangers at the time, Bockelman wanted Petty to be able to watch his three children grow up and be part of their lives. Bockelman donated his kidney on Sept. 9, 2013. Pictured are, from left, Hannah Petty, 7, Max Bockelman, 11, Blake Petty, 11, Evan Petty, 7, and Evan Bockelman, 9.